Company:  Gauri Bhobe / Sanskaar Nritya Dance Academy

Choreographer:   Deepak Mazumdar

Performer:  Gauri Bhobe

First, let me digress. As a young martial artist, I had no respect for tai chi. It was sort of cool looking but, a martial art? Seriously? When a tai chi master made a once-in-a-lifetime visit, I bit and attended the event. All the local instructors were there, and each got to demonstrate a form for the master and the assembled hippies and health nuts. There were a number of graceful, dancerly performances that lowered my estimation of the effectiveness of the art even further.

Then it was the master’s turn. Here were the same slow, graceful movements, but each one had intention, focus and exquisite control. An instructor’s sweeping arm gesture in the master’s hands became a well-timed block, the instructor’s graceful arm extension became a deliberate strike from the master. His balance and physical attitude left no doubt that he could put the entire force of his body behind any one of these, at any time. For the practitioners, these were simply movements – an aesthetic and healthful experience. For the master – everything had meaning, a purpose, and was used with intent. In an instant, I got it.

I had that same experience watching Gauri Bhobe. It was immediately apparent that these were not random movements. This was a vocabulary, and whether it was literal or interpretive, this was a master speaking to us, telling us a very specific story.

I’m sure you would have to be steeped in the culture to understand all the nuance. If she holds her arms and hands this way, does it mean something? If she holds her hand to her face, does it mean something else? What about a foot stomp? I don’t have a clue. There is obviously some pantomime here, and I thought I recognized the reappearance of the flute. Beyond that, I was lost, though the specificity of her gestures had to mean – something.

Just because I was totally lost didn’t mean that I ever lost interest. There were so many elements in this performance that commanded immediate respect. There seemed to be two musical motifs – one staccato and male, the other lyrical and female. During the staccato sections, she appeared to assume a static pose which changed for each beat or series of beats – a sequence of frozen movements, each with its own hand gestures, that required extreme accuracy and were performed with furious rapidity.

At the other end of the spectrum were demonstrations of balance, holding herself immobile on one foot as part of extended poses. It was all there on display – the years and years of training, the intention, the precision, the control – no cultural interpretation required.

Gauri Bhobe was extremely expressive – it was written on her face in the universal language of emotion. Still, I was pretty certain that as she moved about the stage, none of those expressions were directed at me. She was deeply immersed in another world, and all her movements and every change I detect in her expression was a response to situations in the world of that story and the figures who inhabit it.

If you want to understand that story, it has been conveniently outlined for you in the program. Good luck with that. Without subtitles, you’re not going to know where you’re at in the movie anyway. So give it up. You are in the presence of a master. This is a river of information, wave on wave of images. Free your mind, open yourself to the experience and let it wash over you.

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